Vaera: 5783 - Rabbi Shimon Zonnenfeld with a wonderful insight: "And they shall ask... vessels of silver and gold." So that that righteous one (Yosef) would not say - 'and they shall enslave them' was fulfilled in them, but 'and they shall go out with great wealth' was not fulfilled. And indeed…

00:03 Speaker 1 At the Exodus from Egypt, the Torah tells us that Hakadosh Boruch Hu said to Moshe Rabbeinu: “Please speak to the Children of Israel, and let each man ask his fellow for silver and gold. Let each man ask his fellow, and each woman her fellow, for silver and gold.” Rashi comments there: “Please speak”—the word “please” is an expression of request. “I ask you.” Why is this command different from all the others? Why is it a request? Rashi cites the Midrash: So that that righteous man should not say, “He fulfilled ‘They will enslave and afflict them,’ but He did not fulfill ‘And afterward they will leave with great wealth.’” Who is “that righteous man”? It is Avraham Avinu, to whom Hakadosh Boruch Hu said at the Covenant Between the Parts, “They will enslave and afflict them, and afterward they will leave with great wealth.” So he would come to Hakadosh Boruch Hu with a complaint. That is why Hakadosh Boruch Hu asks, “Please speak”—please tell the Children of Israel to ask their fellows for silver and gold, so that Avraham Avinu will not have a complaint. But this raises a question. Every day in davening we say, “Blessed is He Who says and does; blessed is He Who decrees and fulfills.” When Hakadosh Boruch Hu says something, He does it and fulfills it. If Avraham Avinu would not complain, would Hakadosh Boruch Hu not need to fulfill it? What does it mean, “so that Avraham Avinu will not complain”? Hakadosh Boruch Hu has to fulfill it because He promised, “They will enslave and afflict them, and afterward they will leave with great wealth.” What difference does it make whether Avraham Avinu complains or not? I once heard an explanation of this question from Rabbi Zevin, who lived in Jerusalem. He said that, in truth, there was great wealth. What was that great wealth? The giving of the Torah. Hakadosh Boruch Hu giving the Torah to the Jewish people—that is great wealth. “The Torah of Your mouth is better to me than thousands in gold and silver”; “It is more precious than fine gold and pearls.” That is the great wealth, and through it Hakadosh Boruch Hu fulfilled His promise. But Avraham Avinu will come

02:05 Speaker 1 and say—and Rabbi Zevin pays close attention to Rashi’s wording—Avraham Avinu will come and say: “‘They will enslave and afflict them’ was fulfilled for them literally, physically, with mortar and bricks. But ‘afterward they will leave with great wealth’ was something spiritual, the Torah.” That is what Avraham Avinu would complain about. And that is why Hakadosh Boruch Hu says “please”: so that he will not complain that “‘They will enslave and afflict them’ was fulfilled for them,” but what came afterward was not. It is about that point, that particular detail, that He asks, “Please speak—please tell the Children of Israel to ask their fellows,” so that Avraham Avinu will not have a complaint. That is why He asks, “Please speak to the Children of Israel.”

02:49 Speaker 2 That closes it.